2025 NCAA DIII Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll – Week 6 ::: USTFCCCA

By USTFCCCA Communications, USTFCCCA
October 22, 2025  &nbsp

NEW ORLEANS – Saying that Interregional Weekend delivered is an understatement.

Historic races left a big mark on the most recent NCAA DIII Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll that was released on Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). All USTFCCCA polls and rankings are presented by Athletic NET.

The weekend’s biggest race took place at the Connecticut
College Invitational in Waterford, Connecticut, where – for the first time in
USTFCCCA National Coaches’ Poll history – the top five teams faced each other
at the same regular season meet. A heavyweight title fight was on tap between No.
1 NYU, No. 2 Williams, No. 3 Johns Hopkins, No. 4 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, and
No. 5 MIT – and those teams delivered, especially the champion Ephs.

Williams emerged victorious in the Constitution State,
winning by 24 points over defending national champion MIT. The Ephs, now ranked
No. 1 for the first time since 2016 (and unanimously, at that), put five
runners across the line before any other team had four. Morgan Eigel led the
way in fifth place, while Kate Swann (12^th), Tamar Byl-Brann (13^th),
and Jordan Liss-Riordan (19^th) all finished in the top 20. Williams boasted
a deadly 22.7-second spread between Eigel and their fifth runner Charlene Peng,
who crossed in 22^nd place.

MIT showed poise, securing a clear runner-up finish
behind the Ephs. The Engineers were paced by Gillian Roeder (seventh) and Rujuta
Sane (ninth) and were one of just two teams with multiple athletes in the top
ten – the other being third-place Johns Hopkins, which remains ranked third
ahead of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and former No. 1 NYU, which fell four spots.

Middlebury was another standout at the Connecticut
College Invitational. The Panthers, now ranked ninth following a four-spot
improvement, saw star junior Audrey MacLean capture another individual title
and earn M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week honors. MacLean’s low stick,
combined with an 11^th-place finish by freshman Claire Palmer, helped
Middlebury overcome depth issues to finish sixth as a team. The Panthers
outpaced Carleton, Connecticut College, SUNY Geneseo, and Tufts – all of whom
had been ranked ahead of them the previous week.

Halfway across the nation, UW-La Crosse and Trine starred at the Augustana Interregional Invitational in Rock Island, Illinois. The sixth-ranked Eagles cemented their position as the best team not to compete at the Connecticut College Invitational, beating the Thunder by 20 points, 88-108. By finishing second, Trine, now No. 8, beat the likes of UChicago and Washington (Mo) – both of whom had been ranked ahead of them the previous week – and rewarded justly.

We have two stops left until the 2025 NCAA DIII Cross
Country Championships on Saturday, November 22, in Spartanburg, South Carolina:
Conference Championships Weekend in two weeks and then Regional Championships
Saturday on November 15.